Newpoint take to the stage at Newry Drama Festival

It was the first time this had happened in the festival’s 70 year history and the committee were left with no option but to close the doors of the Town Hall as the news that Clarence Players were unable to perform did not come through until around 4pm - just over three hours before curtain up.

She then welcomed local group Newpoint players and said she hoped the packed house would enjoy their production of JM Synge’s ‘In The Shadow of the Glen’ reimagined by director Sean Treanor.

Indeed the play was very well received by the huge audience and the atmosphere in the auditorium was palpable.

Mr Gerry Stembridge began his adjudication by commenting on the set which was on view before the play went up: “What you see when you come into the hall indicates what the play is going to reveal to the audience.”

Stembridge further remarked: “Those who know the play may ask where’s the cottage? Where’s the bed? Where’s the dead man? But when we see the set we know we are in a wild ancient exterior.”

He observed how fascinating it was to see how the director used the set. It could be both exterior and interior and he congratulated set designer Mary Goss and Tom Carvill for the set construction.

Stembridge then moved on to lighting. The production had a complex array of lighting which included thunder and lightning, side lighting and lighting to depict the exterior and interior. He congratulated Declan McConaghey for his superb lighting design which he said was “top class work”.

But for Stembridge the piece de resistance was the extraordinary parade of masks and costumes which were both “magnificent and appropriate". They were “the icing on the cake”. They provided an entirely new vision of the play and he offered congratulations to Alison Rodgers and Bernie McParland. Stembridge did remark that a lighting cue towards the end gave the audience the impression that the play was over which rather spoiled the scene.

Stembridge then moved to the acting. He applauded young male actors Peter Havern who played Michael Dara and Cormac Begley who very poetically rendered his role as Patch Darcy. He praised Lowry Hodgett’s great physicality and beautiful voice as Barney Mulligan. He was most impressed with Frances Morgan who acted and played the bodhran at the same time, with ease, in her role as Peggy Cavanagh and the “great sense of malice she had about her”.

Pauline Lynch as Nora Burke “had a fantastic voice, beautiful movement and fulfilled the spirit of the play”. Leading the pack was Mickey Brannigan who gave a “wonderful physical performance” as Daniel Burke.

Stembridge acknowledged the great work of the director, but offered the opinion that one aspect of the production needed to be reviewed. He felt the last 15 minutes of the play was slow. He thought the actors were extracting too much out of every line.

However it all “came back up at the end of the play”.

He concluded by remarking that if this small issue was rectified, which he felt could easily be done, then Newpoint “would indeed have a cracking production”.

Tonight (Friday) will be the turn of Ballyduff Drama Group with their production of ‘The Ferryman’. Some tickets are still available and can be booked on line or can be purchased in The Town Hall from 7pm. Curtain up at 7.30pm.